Home Two Months!

Sunshine and Little Buddy, or is it Princess Sunshine and Spider Buddy?

This week marks two months since we brought Sunshine and Little Buddy into our home. I am so amazed at how well things are going and overwhelmed at the same time by how far I have to go before I will feel back to normal. Maybe this is my new normal.=)

Sunshine is an amazing little girl! She is super smart and doesn't miss a thing. She takes great effort to order her world in such a way that best suits her. She has been the more challenging child of the two. Even saying that, she is not crazy challenging, she is just older and more emotional in the way she deals with life. She is very passionate about life! We often hear her say things like, "I LOVE THAT!" or "Sooo CUTE!"

This past month, as she and her brother continue to learn English, I have heard many stories of life in Ethiopia. The more they share, I realize that life there is even more different from here than I realized from our short visit. Cultural differences are not truly felt while staying in a nice hotel or guest house.

I also realized this past week that they do not see life in our house as permanent. Why should they? We know that they will live here forever and will grow up in our family, but they don't. Recently they asked me - can we could go back to Ethiopia now? They call the guest house that we stayed in for a week "the little house." That is where they always ask to go. I assume it is because it is the nicest place that they ever stayed in Ethiopia, yet they were still in Ethiopia. The food was familiar, the people spoke their language and looked like them.

I have a hard time answering these questions. I know how their hearts must ache for their home, their family, and their friends. Please pray that God will give Stand-Up Dad and I wisdom as we try to help these little ones transition into life in America away from everything that they know.

Little Buddy is such a wonderful little guy. He is very "three," and we are all loving the fun he brings to our home. He has much more self control than many three year olds I know and yet he is very impulsive. I am amazed at how helpful and obedient he is. He loves to help with any chore that his older brother is doing. He absolutely loves having a mommy and daddy. He is snuggly and very affectionate.

They are both very affectionate! They hug anyone who shows interest in them. I am not sure if this means that they are not bonding with us or that they are just very friendly. I do think the bonding is going well, but I have never done this before and I'm only going on the information I have read in books. I will be sure to ask our social worker about it this week as we have our first post adoption appointment.

Our whole family is definitely still in transition. This month we began just living life as we came down from the high of bringing them home and getting through Christmas. I would say that Sweet Pea and Pumpkin are struggling the most with the transition. It is such a big change to share a room with a new brother or sister and learn how to readjust to life as an older sibling. Please pray for them as God stretches them through this experience.

Stand-Up Dad and I are fairly worn out. I don't know how to describe how we are doing. A friend described it as, "A tornado has just gone through your house and you are trying to put everything back in its place." That seems about right. This process is something that I knew we would experience, but I didn't know what it would feel like. It's kind of like childbirth. Your friends can tell you what it will be like, but it is not the same as experiencing it.

As I share all of this I want you to know that we are so thankful for your prayers and appreciate your friendship more than you know! We know that BIG life things, like adoption, take time to adjust to. So we move forward in faith that the God that called us to bring these precious kiddos into our family will continue to be faithful through this part of the process.

Sweet Momma